In lightning protection field, lightning rod has been continued to use for more than 250 years, since it was invented by American Benjamin Franklin. According to the basic operation principle of the lightning rod, its functions are as follows:
1. Attracts and discharges lightning with the tip of the rod, above the protected object.
2. Discharges lightning current into grounding conductor via conducting wire.
Besides lightning rod, lightning belt, lightning rod network and earlier discharge lightning rod etc. all function on the basic operation principle of lightning rod.
To avoid the protected object from direct voltage puncture, lightning rod discharges lightning current and then reduces electric field strength. But as lightning current is discharged by lightning rod into ground, it produces some harmful phenomena, such as stronger LEMP (Lightning Electromagnetic Pulse), induction overvoltage, back flashover, contact voltage and step voltage. They caused some damages to objects, especially modern electronic device and network.
In the end of 1970's of the twentieth century, based on the technology of the lighting rod with single tip derived some array lightning eliminators (LE) with multi-tip. It is expected that with the plasma produced by the corona discharge on the multi-tip under the action of lightning cloud electric field, the charges, on the tips inducted by lightning cloud electric field can be dissipated, lightning cloud charges can be neutralized and electric field strength in around space can be reduced. Then the lightning voltage puncture to the pins can be shielded and eliminated.
Although the lightning eliminators achieved some success in application, their corona discharge current on the multi-pin is still too smaller and is only about 600 μA in total. So that, the plasma formed by the discharge current is not enough in density and general capacity and often fail in lightning elimination when the conditions of lightning cloud, electric field strength and direction etc. are not suitable for lightning elimination.